Hey folks,

All of the blue-blacks I've tried so far (Waterman, Sheaffer, Noodler's aircorp blue-black, Ohto Blue-black, Platinum Preppy blue-black) tend to be either washed-out or grey-looking. I'm seeking a blue-black that's really BLUE. Any ideas? Links to photos or scans?

Thanks!

You might be looking more for a really dark blue rather than a blue-black. There are some of them out there.]\



K

You should also try taking a blue ink that you like a putting a few drops of black into the mix. I am talking like 1:10 or even less.

I like Noodlers Midnight Blue, but in a wet writer. With a "broadish" nib (ie have it now in a vintage Peli 400NN w/ OM nib...sweet), it's even darker. But I still see it as more blue than black. YMMV

Rick

Hey there!!!
I agree with Kurt on this one....
Have you seen FPN Starry Night? Someone wrote me a letter with it recently and I loved the way it looked.
It was very dark, but clearly blue rather than black, and saturated with colour, rather than washed out.
Let me know how you get on.... I was thinking along the same lines!
Leonie

DC Supershow Electric Blue? With or without some black added?

For a bulletproof deep blue, the "Lapindigo Mix", 50% Legal Lapis and 50% Violet Vote aka Iraqi Indigo.
If not quite deep enough, add a few drops of black.

The Write Fill kit, or a similar syringe, could be handy for mixing up small samples of your secret formula!

The ink you are looking for is Private Reserve Midnight Blues. It is such a dark blue that it appears almost black in certain lights. It is darker than PR Electric Blue, and it has less purple than PR Black Magic Blue.

All of the other contenders are either greenish (Waterman, Parker, Noodlers, Diamine) or grayish (Pelikan, Sheaffer, Sailor) or just plain blue (Platinum).

OOOH - PR Midnight Blues has been on my wish list for a while, and I couldn't figure out whether I liked the look of it or Black Magic blue better. I will DEFINITELY check it out in my next ink sampler!

Greenish, at least in a blue-black, I definitely do NOT want.

A later post will be to ask about a good blue, just for the purpose of mixing... I honestly don't tend to care for blues, so I never seek them out... so I know very little about them and certainly don't have any. I don't think what I'm looking for is a really dark blue, having seen some really dark blue inks in letters from other folks - what I dig about blue-blacks are the shading.

The lapindigo mix also sounds very enticing! I've been curious to try out both of these inks separately anyway, and I have the write fill kit and am very happy to use my syringe for ink mixing. (I filled a cart today with the syringe, and I always feel a little weird about having a syringe lying around when it's drying out on the counter... but it's worth it.)

Yeah, I'll third the PR Midnight Blues for what you're looking for. Most of the greyish BBs you cite are an iron blue, like cigarette smoke, or the fumes from a car that's burning too much oil. Difficult to differentiate from grey unless you have a wet writer.

Try PR Midnight blue

Another vote for PR Midnight Blues and PR Electric Blue

Simon

I've really become quite fond of Parker Quink Blue Black, a nice ink more in the blue range that changes color after it dries.

It seems to be a great color, but isn't it more of a dark blue than a blue-black? It's worth checking out, in any case.



You probably wouldn't go for Legal Lapis, then, at least by itself because it's sort of a teal-black.



If you're picky about hue and shade, and don't mind doing a little mixing, then for the widest range of possibilities (without sampling every ink out there), you could try mixing Noodler's Navajo Turquoise (NT), Shah's Rose (SR), and Black in order to get the perfect blue-black to suit your taste. A starting ratio of 4:4:1, respectively, should get you in the ballpark. From there, you can increase NT and/or decrease SR to move away from violet, decrease NT and/or increase SR to move away from green, and increase or decrease the amount of Black in the mixture. The reason these colors were chosen is that they come as close to primary colors as any fountain pen inks, and will therefore produce relatively saturated hues through mixing (in comparison to other colors).

As for Lapindigo, while it is an interesting blue-black that is true blue rather than green or violet, it trades off some vividness for its "bulletproof" properties (i.e. looks kind of pastel or "chalky"). If you'd prefer a bulletproof ink that you'd have to mix anyway, then Noodler's Aquamarine and Hellbender Red could be used in much the same manner as the standard colors above. In fact, I can and have made exact imitations of Legal Lapis and Violet Vote (formerly Iraqi Indigo) from these colors plus Black, and in addition they provide a far wider range of hues in mixing. On the other hand, if you don't need or desire bulletproof properties, then simply go with the standard colors above (Navajo Turquoise and Shah's Rose).

I'll second or third or whatever this color- couldn't remember the name so I didn't put it up in my previous post but I checked my ink log and it is a good fit for what you want methinks.

K

I think Midnite blue is fine, ditto mixing your own (starting off with 9 blue to 1 black etc as mentioned above)... but....

MB'd b-b- isn't bad, Rubinato's b-b is also nice.

Mike

Actually I'm very fond of the look of Legal Lapis - I've never used it myself, but it's on my wish list as a lot of my snail-mailers use it. However, to me that is a dark teal or blue with a hint of green. I wouldn't consider that near dark enough to qualify as a blue-black, in my book.

Recognizing that we all view color so differently...

I'll do a little bit of mixing, but nothing too fussy (watch me eat those words later), but only with colors I'd like to have on hand anyway. I'm a little bit obsessive about trying ink samples before I buy a whole bottle of the stuff. I've liked what I've seen of Noodler's Navajo so far, but Shah's Rose is just never a color I would buy. While bulletproof qualities would be a nice bonus, they are by no means required for me.

As for PR Midnight blues being more of a dark blue than a blue-black: I've always been rather curious, what really is the difference? To me it's just kind of shading, but I am quite ignorant of the specifics.

Noodler's Hellbender red? I've never even HEARD of that one! Great name. Where does one find THAT?

I'll see if I can find some Parker Quink Blue Black. I've heard good things about the Parker Quink inks. (I've been reading that word so much that I tried to pull it off in a word game against my husband... alas, no "quink" in our dictionary. Damn QU.)

Thanks again to everyone for all this great feedback. The ink addiction continues...

I like Noodler's Midnight Blue very much. It may be a bit lighter than you want, but I think it's worth a look.

Michael

While it is a bit colorful or light for a blue-black, it definitely has some black in it. And the more black you add to it, the greener it becomes, it seems.



Or in some cases label them differently.



I was merely suggesting Shah's Rose as a primary color used only in mixes. Along with Navajo Turquoise and Black, you're sure to be able to mix the hue and shade of blue-black that you want. However, if I were you, I'd sample PR Midnight Blues and the other inks suggested before mixing.



To me, it seems more color-saturated than a typical blue-black (i.e. less gray qualities), and never truly gets black, just dark, dark blue that's almost black when it's wet enough. If that sounds good to you, then this may be the color for you.



It's a Swisher Pens-exclusive Noodler's bulletproof color. It's really a magenta (named after a species of salamander), sort of like Shah's Rose. It's close enough to primary to make some nice bulletproof blues and purples along with Aquamarine (also exclusive to Swisher Pens), but is really only a consideration if you need bulletproof ink because the mixes will look less vibrant than those made with the standard inks.

I am looking for something similar. My additional want is shading and good drying time. I've heard that PRs are typically saturated. Please post what you find out.

What about J Herbin's Bleu Nuit? Some say that the purple disappears as it dries.

http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...showtopic=41270

I tried Waterman Blue-Black in the DC pen show and liked it too.

Anyone who's tried those, please share thoughts

since STDBB is unavailable (it's really what we all want!), I'd go with Noodler's Manhattan Blue, or PR Black Magic Blues, or add a bit of black to a purplish blue. I've tried adding black to a medium blue and it just made it look greenish.

Just get a bottle of Blue ink and a bottle of Black ink. Then, pour the Black ink into the Blue ink until you get the color you want. If you don't, try another brand of Blue ink.

Parker Blue Black Quink turns a nice blue when dry.

I saw a sample of Midnight Blues in a pen store on a trip and decided to swing for it. I haven't loaded it up in a pen yet (haven't even finished unpacking yet! How much of a geek am I, that I have to check in on FPN before I unpack all my luggage??) but I'll let you know. Maybe I'll get ambitious enough to post a photo once the next weekend comes around.

I like the combining blue and black idea... if Midnight Blues isn't dark enough for me, I'll do that.

PR midnight blue... way to go... you'll like it!!

Herbin's BLEU NUIT is also nice. No green, maybe a bit too grey, but less grey than Legal Lapis.

Mike

Okay it was only 3 days ago but in the meantime I bought Lamy's b-b.
Not bad! At least less black than Skrip's and less grey than Herbin's BLEU NUIT.
Best tips have already been posted. Just mix a "pure" blue with more and more black, or -- even better -- with more and more b-b.

Mike

If you're concerned about drying time with PR inks, just add some water - given how saturated the ink is, you can mix up to c. 3:1 ink:water without noticeably changing the colour (this will increase shading, too). Bleu-nuit is a pretty colour, but except in wet pens may not be dark enough. As for ink-mixing suggestions, I find that - albeit counterintuitively, perhaps - adding a reddish brown (esp. Waterman's Havana) to blue results in a much nicer (warmer, richer) blue-black than adding black. (I posted scans of some examples of this a while back.)

Simon

(1) When I use BLEU NUIT and it dries (even after one minute) it still remains as purple-ish as it appeared during writing, but after drying, it does look a bit more grey. But it's hard to say. Maybe like this: BLEU NUIT is already 10-20% grey on writing but after drying, it's gone up to 20-30% grey.
(2) As to me and my computer screen, all inks having any blue in them usually look a bit too green (to me eyes).

Whew

Another vote for PR Midnight Blues. It is a very, very dark blue with no hints of gray, or violet, or green. It is just plain very dark blue. It also flows very nicely. I use it with a Lamy Safary extra-fine.
Gigi

Swisher Blue Black is very dark. It dries a bit lighter than it looks in the bottle and shades nicely.

Skip

Mix PR Midnight Blues and PR Black Magic Blue together.